If You Wanna Be My Lover
by JessieJay13
Summary: Merlin and Arthur work the night shift at a grocery store. And it might just be the happiest they've ever been. Who ever said kumquats and Spice Girls weren't romantic?


Merlin tripped off the edge of the sidewalk as he got off the bus and nearly went sprawling in the middle of the street. He righted himself with a flail and then waved to the bus driver in apology for almost throwing himself under her tires. She rolled her eyes but only looked mildly exasperated; he had been taking this bus every day for the last seven months, so she was rather used to him not keeping his feet under him. He pulled his coat collar up as the bus pulled away and shivered, stuffing his hands in his pockets and wishing his fingerless gloves were as warm as they were stylish.

He crossed the empty street half a block down from the crosswalk, too familiar with the road to care that half the streetlights were dead and the moon wasn't bright enough to light his path properly. He made it to the grocery carpark without tripping over anything in the dark and congratulated himself on managing it. His watch said he was supposed to be there already but the bus had been a few minutes late and there wasn't really anything he could do about that. He took up a jog to cover the remaining distance and sighed in relief as warmth flooded out of the automatic doors to meet him.

"You're late, Merlin." Cenred scowled at him from behind the till, though he didn't pause from counting out the day's total. Merlin grimaced.

"I know, I know," he said. "Sorry. Bus, late, won't happen again."

"That's what you said the last three times," Cenred pointed out. Merlin pulled off his beanie hat and ran fingers through his matted-down hair. He opened his mouth, thinking to protest, but a drawling voice from aisle four did it for him.

"Leave off, Cenred. It's not like it really matters." Arthur sauntered out to lean against a display of stacked cans. "There's no one here but us, and there won't be anyone here but us until morning. He's hardly keeping anyone waiting. I think the shelves can afford to be empty for another minute or two."

Cenred gave Arthur a vaguely disgusted look, but he didn't threaten to write Arthur up as he would have if Merlin had said the same thing. But then Merlin supposed there had to be some perks to being the son of the mogul who owned the entire grocery chain and a half dozen others. Arthur didn't need this job, had only taken it because his father wanted him to start from the bottom and work his way up, and that meant that Cenred had no real leverage over him. Arthur could snark all he wanted and get away with it, while Merlin had to watch himself if he didn't want to get his poor-broke-student-arse fired.

Arthur came forward and plucked the beanie from Merlin's hand, looking at it appraisingly. The corner of his mouth twitched as if he wanted to smile, but he pasted on the haughtiest expression of disdain he could imagine and gave it back to Merlin held delicately between thumb and forefinger. Merlin rolled his eyes and snatched it back, shoving it into his pocket. Then he gave Arthur a light shove, which made Arthur snort in amusement. Merlin flushed a bit when he saw Cenred watching them, mouth pursed in displeasure. Merlin focused on shedding his outer layers instead, doffing gloves and coat and second coat and jumper until he was left in a t-shirt and jeans. He thanked whatever deities there might be once again that he had landed a job that didn't require a uniform or actual interaction with people. The job didn't pay well, but it was just enough for the moment. And when he was on shift with Arthur, it could actually be rather fun.

He wasn't sure quite how he had fallen into a friendship with Arthur, but it certainly wouldn't have happened had there not been extenuating circumstances. Merlin had worked at the store first, had been an employee for a month or two by the time Arthur got there. Arthur had come in with a face like a thunderstorm, muttering furiously under his breath about his father forcing him to do menial work like the plebs, and Merlin had taken an instant disliking to him. A pretty face and nice hair, he decided, were not enough to make up for Arthur's enormously stuck-up and prattish attitude. The two of them had bickered so much that Cenred had gone out of his way to make sure they were never on shift together.

Until the night that Gilli had called in sick and Merlin had been drafted to cover his overnight shift. With Arthur. There was really no way it could have been anything but a disaster. So when the giant construction of cans had come crashing down, Merlin hadn't exactly been surprised. Arthur, however, had been extremely taken aback that Merlin would risk being crushed to death by cans of pineapple to jump in and push him out of the way. The two of them had sat on the floor, surrounded by damaged goods, and made what were probably the most awkward apologies in the history of apologies. And yet the next time Arthur had called Merlin a dirty peasant, he'd said it with a smile on his face and it had made Merlin want to laugh instead of hit him, so obviously considerable progress had been made.

Merlin left Cenred to finish his count and trod the length of the store to the employee break room, tossing his coats onto the back of the ratty couch. As soon as he had, there were arms around his waist and lips pressing against his neck. He couldn't help but melt into the touch, humming and tilting his head to expose his neck more fully. Arthur chuckled, giving his shoulder a light nip with his teeth that made Merlin shiver.

"You're lucky this store doesn't have cameras," Merlin said.

"Lucky indeed," Arthur murmured into his ear. Arthur licked Merlin's earlobe and Merlin snorted with laughter, pushing at Arthur's arms until he was released.

"Cenred isn't even gone yet!" he pointed out, keeping his voice quiet enough that it didn't carry through the huge empty building. Arthur swooped in to kiss him anyway, which Merlin really couldn't bring himself to protest.

"I can wait another few minutes, I guess. If you really insist," Arthur said against his lips. Merlin put a hand on Arthur's chest and pushed him back to arm's length, taking a deep breath to shore up his resolve to not jump Arthur while Cenred was still in the store.

"You," he said firmly, "are incorrigible." Then he strode out the door, holding his head high and trying not to look like the desperately horny twenty-one year old that he was. Arthur caught up with him, gave his arse a squeeze hard enough to make Merlin squeak, and then passed him with a smug smirk on his face. Merlin glared at the back of his pretty blonde head, but that didn't do him any good. It never had.

He wasn't quite sure what this—_they_—were, or when all this had started, to be honest. The flirting had been going on longer than either of them realized, according to Gilli. Apparently, as soon as their insults had stopped being genuine death threats, they had turned into come-ons. The resolution of their sexual tension had been months in the making when finally, on a shift just like this one, they had gotten into something of a food fight with the little powdered donuts Gwen—the much-nicer-than-Cenred regional manager—had left for them in the break room. And then Merlin had had powdered sugar on his jaw, and then Arthur had offered to get it for him, and then Arthur had been licking sugar off of Merlin's face, and then the snogging had happened and then the groping and then they'd gotten each other off in the break room over Gwen's little donuts.

It had just sort of gone on from there, snogging on break and getting off in secluded corners. They didn't see each other outside of work and, apart from regular texting conversations, they didn't have a whole lot of non-work-related contact. Whatever it was they had, Merlin didn't think it counted as a relationship, even if getting a text from Arthur made Merlin's heart do an annoying little flip somewhere around his stomach. They hadn't talked about it or anything so he had no idea if Arthur smiled at his texts too, but then they didn't really _do_ talking, so he guessed he shouldn't be surprised by that. Still, it would've been nice to know where he stood.

Cenred was locking up the till and switching off the automatic doors when Merlin got back to the front. Arthur stood by the stacks of boxes and crates of produce and products, all needing to be shelved and organized properly, looking at the label on a soup can with unwavering attention that looked very legitimate but fooled no one. Cenred wrapped a truly awful orange scarf, which was very out of place against his black leather motorcycle jacket, around his throat and gave them both a stern look that looked a little ridiculous surrounded by orange yarn.

"No funny business," he said imperiously, "or I'll see to it that there's consequences." The dramatic impact of his exit was a little dampened by the fact that he had to drag the doors open and then push them shut again, but he gave them another glare from the other side of the glass before he left just for good measure.

"Yes, your majesty," Merlin said mockingly, as soon as he was sure Cenred was too far away to hear him. "Who exactly does that guy think he is, the king of Grocery Land?" He jerked a thumb over his shoulder as he turned to Arthur, who didn't look concerned.

"Someone who knows he's not nearly as in charge as he wants to be," Arthur answered. He dropped the soup can back into the crate he'd plucked it from and then manhandled the crate onto a dolly. "Let's get these where they're supposed to go, shall we?" Before he joined in with loading in the new provisions, Merlin took a moment to hook his iPod up to the store's speaker system, putting on a playlist of the cheesiest girl group songs he had just to see Arthur's look of pure exasperation. Then he set about stacking shelves with as much enthusiasm as he could manage, which was a rather unreasonable amount when he had Avril Lavigne as his soundtrack. He figured he probably would've been embarrassed to be seen dancing all out to Avril if it had been anyone else but Arthur, and if he didn't catch a glimpse of Arthur nodding along and mouthing the words to Hot N Cold with just as much gusto.

The playlist was well over two and a half hours long, packed full of the sort of songs that only preteen girls admitted to liking unironically but which everyone actually had a secret soft spot for. Considering it had been 11:30 when they'd started, all inhibitions had long since been swept away by the time the clock showed 1 AM. The two of them danced around the aisles unashamedly, using kitchen utensils as makeshift microphones as they jammed out to Demi Lovato and did the diva thing with their hands like Christina Aguilera as if either of them could actually sing. Arthur nearly busted a gut laughing when Merlin did a turn and overbalanced, nearly sending himself headfirst into a display of Ritz crackers, but Merlin got his own back when he realized that Arthur knew all the words to pretty much every Taylor Swift song he had on the list.

They were most of the way done with their stacking by the time the playlist started winding down. Merlin always saved his favorites for last, and he knew the end was drawing nigh when Wannabe blasted out of the speakers. He called out, "I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want!" And, much to his delight, Arthur immediately stuck his head into Merlin's aisle to yell back, "_So tell me what you want, what you really really want!_" Merlin danced his way down the aisle until he could press up close to Arthur in the pretense of squeezing past him and make the _zigazig ah_ a delicious wriggle against Arthur's arse. Arthur turned to grab him but Merlin slipped out of his hold with a laugh. On the next chorus, Arthur snuck up behind Merlin and took him by the hips, his lips finding Merlin's ear again.

"If you wanna be my lover," he sang, more softly than the song called for, practically purring it. Merlin shivered, thankful again for the lack of cameras. Arthur kissed him and Merlin smiled against his lips, feeling all fluttery even though he knew they weren't Arthur's words, just song lyrics, not indicative of anything Arthur might or might not actually feel for him. He sucked on Arthur's tongue to prevent him from crooning anything else that would make Merlin's heart do funny and unfortunate things in his chest, but he broke away hurried just in time for the best part of the song.

"SO HERE'S THE STORY FROM A TO Z," he shouted, turning around properly to push a finger in Arthur's chest. "YOU WANNA GET WITH ME, YOU BETTER LISTEN CAREFULLY." Arthur joined him on the next part, the both of them having trouble getting the words out through their laughter. They spent the rest of the song giggling and pretending they actually knew how to dance, which—on Merlin's part, at least—was a damn lie.

The opening strains of the next song, and the last on the playlist, sent Merlin running for the produce section. He snatched up three kumquats and waited for the chorus to start. Arthur trotted up in his wake, looking thoroughly confused and, if Merlin wasn't mistaken, a bit fond.

"Merlin, what exactly are you doing?" he asked.

"You'll see."

"Those are kumquats, Merlin."

"Yes, I know that. I do work here."

"What do you need kumquats for?" Arthur demanded.

"Do you know what song this is?" Merlin countered.

"It's Britney Spears."

"It's _Circus_, by Britney Spears."

"And?"

"And circuses," Merlin said, holding up the kumquats and grinning, "have jugglers." Arthur opened his mouth—to question or to comment, Merlin didn't know—but then Merlin was tossing the fruit into the air one at a time, trading them from hand to hand in what was really a remarkably uncharacteristic display of dexterity and hand-eye coordination for him. Arthur gaped at him for a moment, and then he threw his head back and laughed, one of those big hearty laughs that meant Merlin couldn't help but laugh along with him.

"You're just full of surprises, aren't you, Merlin?" Arthur marveled, arms crossed as he watched Merlin's performance with a delighted smile on his face. Merlin blushed, thoroughly pleased. "You're probably not supposed to be doing that, though," Arthur pointed out.

"Why not?"

"You're juggling the produce, Merlin."

"There's no rule against that."

"There's got to be."

"There is absolutely nothing in the rule book that forbids employees from performing circus tricks with kumquats. I know. I've checked." Merlin tossed one of the fruit at Arthur, who caught it with what were really unfairly good reflexes. Arthur rolled his eyes and threw it back to him.

"If you say so,_Mer_lin. Besides," he said, with a much different sort of smile on his face. "You're getting the point of the song wrong."

"How so?" Merlin asked as he dropped the kumquats back into their bin.

"It's about performance, sure. But not that kind." Arthur pointed upwards, to the speakers supposedly, just as the song moved into the pre-chorus. "_I'm like the ringleader, I call the shots._" Arthur started swaying his hips to the heavy beat of the song. "_I'm like a firecracker, I make it HOT_." Arthur did a full body roll that made Merlin's mouth go dry.

Merlin had been wrong earlier, so very wrong. While he himself didn't have the coordination god gave two-year-old, Arthur was clearly capable of far more. He could dance and he could dance well. It was just as well that the song called for him to be the center of attention—as if Arthur could ever be anything else—because Merlin couldn't have looked away if he'd tried. When the lyrics "don't stand there watching me, follow me, show me what you can do" came up, Arthur reached out and dragged Merlin forward, turning him around. He pressed himself up against Merlin's back, holding him tight by the hips and grinding against him, making Merlin move with him. Merlin was so hard he thought he might pass out, right there in the middle of the produce aisle at 2 o'clock in the morning, but Arthur's arm tight around his waist kept him upright and mobile.

He leaned his head back over his shoulder and Arthur met him halfway, his tongue suddenly wet and hot in Merlin's mouth. Arthur tugged Merlin around until they were pressed flush together, one of Arthur's knees pushing between Merlin's thighs until they could grind together properly. Neither of them really noticed when the song ended and the playlist clicked off. Merlin was much too involved with palming Arthur's arse and trying to get as much physical contact as it was possible to have. Arthur walked him backwards until Merlin's back hit something sturdy, a support pole with a price-checker attached to it that jutted over Merlin's shoulder. Then Arthur was kissing his way down Merlin's neck, tugging Merlin's shirt down so he could suck at his collarbone, pushing up the hem to get at Merlin's stomach.

He was on his knees before Merlin had really comprehended that that was his destination. When Arthur's nimble fingers found his zip, Merlin let his head fall back against the concrete pillar with a thud. Arthur had a hand around his cock in seconds, squeezing eagerly and drawing a moan from Merlin's lips. Arthur stroked him, laying more soft, open-mouthed kisses along Merlin's hip as he did. He looked up at Merlin with a smile playing around the corners of his mouth, his eyes bright and painfully, beautifully blue. Merlin couldn't look away as Arthur ran his tongue teasingly over the head of his cock, then blew cool air over the wetness left behind.

Arthur was always something of a tease. He wanted nothing more than to wind Merlin up and then bring him down again, twice, three times. Whatever it took to get Merlin to beg. And, sadly, with lips that looked so damn good stretched around his shaft and even better with Merlin's cum painted across them, Merlin really wasn't disinclined to begging if it got Arthur to swallow for him. Arthur wrapped those pink, wet lips around Merlin's cockhead and sucked, just lightly, but it was enough that Merlin had to seriously fight not to buck up into him. Arthur pulled off with an obscene pop and ran the flat of his tongue up from the base to the tip, tracing the vein on the underside. He took Merlin into his mouth again, sinking down further this time, and Merlin tangled his fingers into Arthur's hair.

"Ah, fuck," Merlin breathed out as Arthur sucked him. Arthur's hand tightened around the base of his cock, a warning not to cum yet, and Merlin tugged at Arthur's hair in retaliation. Arthur didn't seem to mind. In fact, he hummed, sending delicious vibrations up Merlin's prick. He pulled off to pant against Merlin's hip for a moment, working Merlin with his hand, stroking and twisting. He flicked his thumb over Merlin's slit, catching the drops of precum he squeezed out with every tug and slicking the soft skin with them. Merlin hissed through his teeth when Arthur dug his thumb into the sensitive spot just under the head, groaning long and low.

"Shit, Merlin," Arthur said, sounding a little strangled. "God, I love how you sound when I do this." Arthur dove back in with a vengeance, sucking hard enough to make Merlin's eyes cross. Merlin cried out, holding onto Arthur's hair tightly to keep him in place, right where he belonged, with Merlin's cock buried in his wet, perfect mouth. His balls were tight and the muscles in his stomach were twitched, clenching, but Arthur's grip on the base of his cock wouldn't let Merlin finish properly and he sagged back against the pillar with a whimper, the pleasure almost bordering on pain as his orgasm pulled back, unsatisfied.

"Please," he said, giving in easily tonight. How could he not when Arthur's cheeks were flushed, his lips spit-slick and red, his jeans looking painfully tight stretched across his own arousal. It was quite possibly the most glorious sight he had ever laid eyes on, except possibly that one time he had convinced Arthur to jack off for him in the bathroom cubicle, his shirt hiked up and trousers pushed down, his own hand around his fat cock but his eyes fixed on Merlin's. Both images would have been enough to make him blow his top if only Arthur weren't in the mood to torture him.

"Please, Arthur. Oh god, I wanna cum. Fuck, Arthur, just—I need—" He pulled at Arthur's hair again and he heard Arthur's breath hitch, knew that he was stifling a moan of his own. So he did it once more, and this time Arthur practically growled. He took a moment to fumble with his own trousers, pawing clumsily at them until he had managed to free himself from the denim constraints. His cock, every bit as hard as Merlin's and already leaking at the tip, sprang free and he wrapped his left hand around it, matching its movements to those of the one making Merlin's eyes roll in his head. "_Shit_," Merlin bit out.

"God, Merlin, you have no idea," Arthur gasped out against his skin, nuzzling along Merlin's length until he could lap at the head. "No idea how much I want you. Need you." He took Merlin in deep, hollowing his cheeks, and Merlin saw stars.

"_Fuck_, Arthur, just let me cum, dammit," Merlin demanded, thinking maybe that would be more effective than pleading. When Arthur only pulled back to lick at him teasingly again Merlin groaned in frustration and started up a litany of "please, please, please, oh please, Arthur, please" instead. Arthur seemed thoroughly satisfied with this, sucking harder and speeding up his strokes on his own cock. He finally—_finally_—abandoned his tight hold on the base of Merlin's cock, working him relentlessly, and Merlin's release crashed into him with enough force to leave him seeing white.

Merlin called out Arthur's name, or at least he thought he did. He certainly shouted something, at least, as his whole body tensed up and he spurted into Arthur's mouth. Arthur sucked him through it, swallowing down his cum with relish and milking him to the last drop. Merlin leaned his head back against the pillar and hoped vaguely that he would regain feeling in his limbs soon. Not that limbs really mattered after an orgasm like that.

Then Arthur was there, pressed flush against him, kissing his neck and rutting against his hip. Merlin caught his mouth and tasted himself on Arthur's tongue, the sharp bitterness of it. He moaned into the kiss, reaching between them to catch Arthur's straining cock in his hand. Arthur grunted, thrusting up into Merlin's grip. Merlin jerked him hard and fast, with none of the teasing playfulness Arthur often used on him, and Arthur came with a shuddering cry, coating Merlin's hand and wrist in wetness.

The two of them leaned there, sharing space and air, until their heartrates had almost returned to normal. Arthur nosed at Merlin's hair, letting out a contented sort of sound that made Merlin smile. They kissed some more, lazy and slow, and Merlin couldn't remember a time when he'd been so thoroughly happy. It was moments like this that made Merlin sure, absolutely _sure_, that Arthur felt for him too, even if he'd never said it. The memory of Arthur crooning "_lover_" into his ear sent another shiver down his spine, and Arthur pressed his lips to the sensitive spot just under his ear in response.

"We should clean up," Merlin said reluctantly, very much of the mind that they should stay exactly as they were forever and never ever move again but knowing it wasn't really a realistic option. "We still need to finish stocking the shelves."

"No," Arthur said. He sounded a little petulant, but he wrapped his arms tighter around Merlin's waist and Merlin had to chuckle.

"Come on, lazy daisy. Let's go." It took all of his scattered concentration, but he disentangled himself from Arthur's hold with a little difficulty and took Arthur's hand with the one of his that wasn't covered in Arthur's cum. He tugged a still-flushed and pouting Arthur into the break room, pushing him down onto the couch and going to wash his hands. He brought over a damp paper towel for Arthur to clean off with and they both made themselves relatively decent again. Arthur pulled Merlin down onto the couch, manhandling him until Merlin's head was in Arthur's lap and Arthur could run fingers through his hair. Merlin knew they still had work to do, and yet he couldn't bring himself to voice a single complaint, not when Arthur's fingers on his scalp were so close to lulling him to sleep. Instead, he rubbed his cheek against Arthur's thigh and let himself succumb to his post-coital bliss and just float, listening to Arthur's soft breathing.

He didn't know how long they stayed that way, but he was obviously half-asleep when he found himself saying, "I really like you." Arthur's petting of his hair paused, but it picked up again after a moment.

"I really like you too," Arthur said. "I thought you'd figured that out by now."

"But…do you like me as much as I like you?" Merlin was sort of mumbling, too embarrassed to speak clearly but too sleepy and comfortable and love-struck not to say it at all. For a while he thought Arthur hadn't heard him, or was going to pretend that he hadn't.

"Yeah," Arthur said eventually. "Yeah, I think I do. I don't sing Spice Girls with just anyone, you know." His tone was light, but his hand was so gentle, so tender. Merlin rolled onto his back and reached up to take Arthur's hand in his own, bringing it down to rest on his chest with their fingers tangled together.

"Really?" Merlin asked, blinking up at him blearily. Arthur smiled, looking unbearably doting even from Merlin's sideways angle. It made his heart skip a beat in a very cliché manner that he should probably have scoffed at but instead felt was nothing but appropriate. Arthur leaned down and pressed a kiss to Merlin's lips, so lightly that it didn't matter that they weren't properly aligned.

"Yes, Merlin, really. To the Spice Girls bit, and to the liking you bit." Arthur squeezed Merlin's fingers and a slow, elated smile spread across Merlin's face. Arthur smiled back, laughing. "You're so out of it after you cum, Merlin." Merlin snorted, rolling over in the other direction so that he could nuzzle into the crease of Arthur's hip.

"Your fault," he muttered, still smiling. Arthur just brought his other hand up to pet Merlin again, leaving the one Merlin had kidnapped where it was, clutched to Merlin's chest. Merlin shifted, peering up at Arthur through one open eye. "Are we lovers?" he asked. "Like in Spice Girls?"

"Like in Spice Girls," Arthur said, nodding confirmation. "You do realize that means you're gonna have to get with my friends soon, right?"

"Of course," Merlin said solemnly. "Friendship never ends. Everyone knows that." Arthur laughed again. Then he leaned down to place a sweet kiss on Merlin's forehead.

"Take a nap, Merlin. I'll wake you up before His Majesty gets back so we can make sure Grocery Land is all spick and span and we don't lose our heads."

"Good plan." Merlin fell asleep with the dopiest smile on his face and Arthur's hand pressed over his heart.


End file.
